Baby walkers are well known devices for providing support to a child while allowing the child to ambulate either indoors or outdoors- Baby walkers are, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,839, issued Oct. 9, 1956, U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,853, issued Apr. 5, 1977, U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,138, issued Jan. 29, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,756, issued Apr. 26, 1977, U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,209, issued Jul. 4, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,392, issued Oct. 13, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,700, issued Jan. 24, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,030, issued Apr. 18, 1989, U.S. Pat. No. 658,126, issued Sep. 18, 1900, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 204,252, issued Apr. 5, 1966, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 301,440, issued Jun. 6, 1989, and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 305,750, issued Jan. 30, 1990.
The present invention relates to baby walker apparatus with an anti-tipping feature. That is, the baby walker is so constructed as to limit the degree of tipping thereof to prevent possible harm or injury to the child using the device. The apparatus also is constructed in such a manner as to resist rotation of the walker on the floor after a minimal amount of tipping has taken place. That is, the baby walker apparatus of the present invention will not tip to such a degree that the child can fall or can no longer be supported by the baby walker. Further, the baby walker apparatus contacts the floor in a manner which will stabilize the apparatus when the small amount of tipping allowed by the structure thereof has occurred.
The device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,853 relates to an enclosure to be attached to a conventional baby walker which extends over and surrounds the child to prevent the child from reaching objects. The device will not prevent tipping over of the baby walker.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,138 discloses a detachable bumper guard provided for use with a baby walker. The bumper guard comprises a longitudinal cushioning main body sufficient in length to substantially encircle the parametrical surface of the walker and a slot to receive at least a portion of the surface. A mechanism is provided for releasably attaching the main body to the lower circular base of the walker.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,839 discloses a baby walker which utilizes a ring having a wheel rotatably disposed about a portion thereof. The wheel engages the floor when the walker is tipped slightly to prevent further tipping. Such an arrangement will not stop or stabilize the baby walker against movement relative to the floor after the wheel on the ring engages the floor. The baby walker can rotate about the vertical axis of the walker on the ring, thus creating an unstable situation.
U.S. Pat. No. 658,126 shows a baby walker with downwardly extending, curved fenders which engage the floor when the walker tips. This arrangement suffers from the same deficiency outlined above with respect to U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,839.